A woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for a DUI crash in the Florida Keys that left a deputy permanently injured.
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Alexandra Marlene Baraga, 29, was given the sentence Tuesday after agreeing to a plea deal in the April 9, 2024 crash.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Julian Garcia had stopped a driver on U.S. 1 near Mile Marker 87 in Islamorada when Baraga struck the rear of his patrol vehicle, pushing it into the vehicle he had stopped and pinning Garcia between them, authorities said.
Garcia was airlifted by Trauma Star to Jackson South Medical Center in Miami with catastrophic and permanent injuries.
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Baraga, of Minnesota, had a blood alcohol level of .268, more than three times Florida’s legal limit of .08, authorities said.
In addition to the four years in prison, Baraga will serve six years of probation, had her driver’s license suspended for three years, will have to serve community service and attend DUI school, and must submit to random drug and alcohol testing.
“This was entirely preventable. Baraga made the decision to drive drunk, and a deputy who was simply doing his job will live with the consequences for the rest of his life,” Chief Assistant State Attorney Joseph Mansfield said in a statement. “What is particularly troubling is that she stood before the court today and said nothing to the deputy whose life she permanently changed. Not one word to the man who will carry the scars of her actions for the rest of his life. Her four years in prison will eventually end. Deputy Garcia’s injuries will not. No plea agreement and no prison sentence can undo the damage caused by her reckless and selfish decision.”
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